I observe a couple of board games out there with Chinese phrases/words included in them. I also observe most BGG-ers are from the West and probably do not understand Chinese.

Some of these Chinese words are crucial to gameplay and these will more or less be explained in the rules. Others are more decorative in nature and were probably added to increase the flavour of the theme.

The purpose of this geeklist is to help BGG-ers decipher these Chinese words.

If you have pictures of boardgames with chinese words you want to know, add a comment. I will decipher them and add the corresponding geeklist item.

Words found on the seeds:將: Read "jiāng" and means "general".帥: Read "shuài" and means "overall in command".士 or 仕: Both read "shì" and broadly means "bodyguard". Could also mean "higher ranking soldier".相: Read "xiàng" and means "prime minister".象: Also read "xiàng" but means "elephant".馬: Read "mǎ" and means "horse".車: Almost always read "chē" and means "car" but read "jū" only in the context of xiangqi and means "chariot".炮 or 砲: Both read "pào" and means "cannon".兵: Read "bīng" and means "soldier".卒: Read "zú" and also means "soldier".

Words sometimes found on the river:楚河: Read "chǔ hé" and means "Chu river".漢界: Read "hàn jiè" and means "Han border".I believe the above is connected to the rise of the Han dynasty, around 200BC, where the states of Chu and Han were at war with each other and the border between the two states was known as "楚河漢界".

萬: Read "wàn" and means "ten thousand".一二三四伍六七八九: Read "yī ér sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí" and means the numbers "one two three four five six seven eight nine". It is interesting to note that all the numbers are in their daily usage form except for five. Five is written as "五" these days. 東: Read "dōng" and means "east".南: Read "nán" and means "south".西: Read "xī" and means "west".北: Read "běi" and means "north".中: Read "zhōng" and means "centre" or "middle".發: Read "fā" and means "to prosper".

Occasionally, you may see a set of joker tiles included with the following:飛: Read "fēi" and means "to fly".

You may also see two sets of four flower tiles included with the following:春: Read "chūn" and means "spring".夏: Read "xià" and means "summer".秋: Read "qiū" and means "autumn".冬: Read "dōng" and means "winter".梅: Read "méi" and means "plum". 蘭 or 兰: Read "lán" and means "orchid". The latter, 兰, is more oft seen and is actually written in Jian Ti form (simplified form).菊: Read "jú" and means "chrysanthemum".竹: Read "zhú" and means "bamboo".

The words 運心力足諧生 can be found on the cards, privilege tokens and action cards:運: Read "yùn" and has various meanings, but probably means "luck" here.心: Read "xīn" and means "heart".力: Read "lì" and means "strength".足: Read "zú" and means "feet".諧: Read "xié" and means "harmony".生: Read "shēng" and means "alive" or "birth".The six words above when combined do not have any particular meaning.

Take note that the action card for the Great Wall expansion (top left of pic below) has a printing error and the words on it are mirror images of what they should be:

Words at the back of the five sets of player cards:未(red cards): Read "wèi" and means "not yet".足(yellow cards): As above. 平(green cards): Read "píng" and has various meanings, but probably means "peaceful" here.友(blue cards): Read "yǒu" and means "friend".運(purple cards): As above.The five words above when combined do not have any particular meaning.

Words on the coins:洛阳(large coin): As above.铜钱(small coin): Read "tóng qián" and means "bronze coin".乌玫瑰山(reverse side of both coins): Read "wū méi guì shān" and is Uwe's name translated into Chinese. They sound like Uwe’s name but do not have any meaning in Chinese. It is however interesting to note that the middle two words "玫瑰" mean "rose".

Finally, there are two large coins with squiggles on their reverse side. They are not Chinese words and I have no idea what they mean I found out from the publisher that they are the alphabets HALL for the publisher's name, i.e. Hall Games. This is shown in the coin at the front of the picture below:

Words on the front of the game box (added for completeness, but was first replied by Erwin Lau in the comments below):此字冇含意: Read "cǐ zì mǎo hán yì" and means "this word has no meaning".

Words on the side of the game box:包装不装着冰箱: Read "bāo zhuāng bù zhuāng zhè bīng xiāng" and has the really strange meaning of "packaging does not include refrigerator".

Words on the back of the cards:那: Read "nà" and means "that".谟: Read "mó" and means "strategem".轧: Read "gá" and probably means "to make (friends)" or "socialise" here. Also read "yà" and "zhá" and both mean "flatten".拓: Read "tuò" and probably means "open up and develop" here. Also read "tà" and that means "process of copying imprints from tablets (and such) onto paper"日: Read "rì" and means "day".发: Read "fā" and means "to prosper". This is the same word as "發" under the mahjong entry.

Words on the Queen of Stars card (with some help from Curt Carpenter on the 6th word):七: Read "qī" and means "seven".百: Read "băi" and means "hundred".岁: Read "suì" and means "years old".王: Read "wáng" and means "king".耑: Read "duān" and means "extreme end of". For some reason, this word is in Fan Ti form (old form), whilst the rest are Jian Ti form (simplified form).足: Read "zú" and means "foot".够: Read "gòu" and means "enough" or "sufficient".Put together, the entire phrase means roughly "seven hundred years of age for a king is sufficient".

The various words in the game are in a mixture of Fan Ti form (old form) and Jian Ti form (simplified form). Not sure why there is such an inconsistency. The words that are in Fan Ti form (old form) are highlighted below:

Words found at the corner of the main board:鼠: Read "shǔ" and means "rat".牛: Read "niú" and means "cow".虎: Read "hǔ" and means "tiger".兔: Read "tù" and means "hare".龍(Fan Ti form): Read "lóng" and means "dragon".蛇: Read "sé" and means "snake".马: Read "mǎ" and means "horse".羊: Read "yáng" and means "goat".猴: Read "hóu" and means "monkey".鸡: Read "jī" and means "chicken".狗: Read "gǒu" and means "dog".猪: Read "zhū" and means "pig".These are the twelve chinese zodiacs. Take note of the printing error for the chinese words for pig, rat, cow, tiger, hare and dragon. They are mirror images of what they should be.

Words found on the factory tiles. Most of the words in the background are at least partially obscured, so these are educated guesses:暗袋: Read "àn dài" and means "unexposed carrier".茶馆: Read "chá guǎn" and means "tea house".捕鱼: Read "bǔ yú" and means "fishing".古代: Read "gǔ dài" and means "ancient".衣服: Read "yī fú" and means "clothing".兰花: Read "lán huā" and means "orchid".金鱼: Read "jīn yú" and means "goldfish".手饰: Read "shǒu shì" and means "jewellery".烹饪: Read "pēng rén" and means "cooking".蛋糕: Read "dàn gāo" and means "cake".面条: Read "miàn tiáo" and means "noodles".布条: Read "bù tiáo" and means "cloth".海鲜: Read "hǎi xiān" and means "seafood".I suspect that the chinese words for the laundry 布条 and factory 衣服 tiles were mixed up. This is based on what I see on the pictures depicting the respective businesses. And the bakery has the words 海鲜 or seafood in its background, which is also obviously wrong.

I have seen sets in either Fan Ti form (old form) or Jian Ti form (simplified form). The words presented below are in Fan Ti form (old form) with the words in brackets in Jian Ti form (simplified form).

Words found on the village tiles. Some of the words are cut off, so these are educated guesses:冏店魔术 on Herbalist's Shop tile: Read "jiǒng diàn mó shù" and has the strange meaning of "light shop magic". "冏" means "light" and is also used commonly as an ideographic emoticon of a frown, "店" means "shop" and "魔术" means "magic".昱 on Night Watchman's Beat tile: Read "yù" and means "light".茶馆 on Tea House tile: Read "chá guǎn" and means "teahouse" (of course).

Words found on the coin (read from top to bottom, then right to left):嘉慶通寳: Read "jiā qìng tōng bǎo" and means "common treasure of (Emperor) Jia Qing". This is an actual coin cast during the years 1796-1820 AD of the reign of Emperor Ren Zong, the 7th emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

Words found in the rules:人: Read " rén" and means "person or people".分钟: Read "fēn zhōng" and means "minutes".游戏设计: Read "yóu xì shè jì" and means "game design".倪睿南: Read "ní ruì nán" and is Reiner's name translated into Chinese. They sound like Reiner’s name but do not have any meaning in Chinese.

My own translation of the short Chinese description of the game is a little different from that provided in the game, so I am including my own translation below as a comparison.

Words found on the game box:飛龍傳説: Read "fēi lóng chuán shuō" and means "legend of the flying dragon".

Words found on the game box insert:黑: Read "hēi" and means "black".白(found this in another edition): Read "bái" and means "white".金: Read "jīn" and means "gold".

Words found on the game board:桃(found this in another edition): Read "táo" and means "peach" but probably means "pink" here.粉: Read "fěn" and means "powder" but probably means "pink" here. As Mark noted in the comments below, it probably is a short form for "粉紅", which means "pink".紅: Read "hóng" and means "red".橙: Read "chéng" and means "orange".黃: Read "huáng" and means "yellow".綠: Read "lǜ" and means "green".藍: Read "lán" and means "blue".紫: Read "zǐ" and means "purple".褐: Read "hè" and means "brown".

There are various editions for this game. I found an edition with Chinese words in it and those are in Fan Ti form (old form).

福: Read "fú" and means "blessed or blessing".壹貳叁肆伍陸柒捌玖拾: Read "yī ér sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí" and means the numbers "one two three four five six seven eight nine". These numerals are in what is known as "big form" The more usual "一二三四五六七八九" is what is known as "small form". The story goes that the first emperior of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuan Zhang, introduced this set of numbers after uncovering a major fraud case. The numbers of the "small form" can be easily altered by adding a few strokes, and the "big form" was introduced to prevent that practice. Compare these with the numbers from the mahjong entry.龍: Read "lóng" and means "dragon".

I note that the card back of a particular edition also contains some random Chinese words. If anyone has a copy and takes a clearer picture of that, I will be able to decipher it.

Words found on the "O" coin of the word "Dragon" on the game box:恭賀新禧: Read "gōng hè xīn xǐ" and means "congratulations on the new (year)". I suspect there is a printing error here, as the first and third words, 恭 and 新, are facing outwards, whilst the second and fourth words, 賀 and 禧, are facing inwards. The words are read clockwise (see below for comparison).

Words found on the large coins:招財進寶: Read "zhāo cái jìn bǎo" and means "inviting wealth and treasures (to self or into own home)". The words are printed upright, and read top down, then right to left, which I believe is the more common manner of inscribing words on ancient Chinese round coins.

Words found behind the reputation markers. These are not written in Fan Ti form (old form) and look like an older, more ancient form. The following are my educated guesses of the words, with some help from a Chinese friend:勤(top left): Read "qín" and means "diligence".富(top right): Read "fù" and means "wealth" or "abundance".民(bottom left): Read "mín" and means "people" or "citizens".德(bottom right): Read "dé" and means "morality" or "virtue".

Words on the game box:三國得志: Read "sān guó dé zhì" and is a pun on two phrases. 三國志 refers to the historical text, Records of the Three Kingdoms. 得志 means to realise your ambition. Put together, it means to realise your ambition of re-unifying China.

Words on the gameboard, back of general cards, back of general tokens, state and state action markers and player aids:魏: Read "wèi" and is the name of the state under the Cao family. The name Wei came from the region that the Cao family controlled, i.e. the northern part of ancient China.吳: Read "wú" and is the name of the state under the Sun family. The name Wu came from the region that the Sun family controlled, i.e. the southeastern part of ancient China, at the mouth of the Yangtze river.蜀: Read "shǔ" and is the name of the state under the Liu family. The name Shu came from the region that the Liu family controlled, i.e. the southwestern part of ancient China, more commonly known now as Sichuan.

Words on the gameboard and back of tribe markers:匈奴: Read "xiōng nú" and is the name of the border tribe neighbouring the state of Wei.山越: Read "shān yuè" and is the name of the border tribe neighbouring the state of Wu.南蠻: Read "nán mán" and is the name of the border tribe neighbouring the state of Shu.

Word on back of Han emperor token:漢: Read "hàn" and is the name of the dynasty under the Liu family (Liu Bei is a descendent of this family). The name Han came from the region, Han Zhong, that Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, started his conquests from. Han Zhong is in the western part of ancient China, north of modern day Sichuan.

Words on back of state enhancement cards:分: Read "fēn" and means "separate" or "points".合: Read "hé" and means "unify" or "to come together".

Words on state enhancement cards:未央宮 (on Imperial Palace statement enhancement card): Read "wèi yāng gong" and means "The Endless Palace". It is the name of imperial palace of the Han dynasty.起始玩者 (on Armistice with Border Tribe statement enhancement card): Read "qǐ shǐ wán zhě" and means "Starting Player", which is of course the publisher name. "起始" means "starting" and "玩者" means "player".三國得志 (on Armistice with Border Tribe statement enhancement card): Read "sān guó dé zhì" and is of course the board game name.Note that the words on the Armistice with Border Tribe statement enhancement card are written in seal script.